Last fall our small group at church began the book and video series What Are You Afraid Of? by Dr. David Jeremiah. The book focuses on facing down your fears with faith. God wants the very best for us, He doesn't want us living each day in fear of the what if....
Books
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Maple Syrup: How Sweet It Is!
Nooo, I'm not talking about the weather here in Minnesota! The White Witch from Narnia has us under her wintry spell, and we're all pretty depressed and crabby about it. Ever watched Groundhog Day? Yep, that's what the weather reports have been like...freezing rain, snow, sleet...the only upside I can see to this weather compared to our 80 degee March weather we had last year is...
Big, bulging, blue bags of sap! The sap is runnin! We've got plenty of beautiful, mature Maple trees in our yard and have enjoyed their fall colors and their leaves in big piles for many years, but 2 years ago Mr. Fix-it had a "live off the land" moment and decided he was going to tap the trees! He scoured the internet for information and picked up supplies. We had gotten a couple buckets full of taps and bag holders from someone moving that knew I was always open to more "junk"!
The trees got tapped, the blue bags appeared and the whole family got to taste the sweet contents of our beautiful Maple trees!
It's been an education for all of us. The kids have learned how to empty the bags into containers, and have realized how much patience it takes when there's a 40 gallon to 1 ratio...liquid gold!
Mr. Fix-it has manufactured his burning technique and still wants to make improvements...ever the engineer!
The air is filled with a sugary sweet smell, similar to how the cotton candy machine smelled like when I worked the school carnival. After tending the sap all day, it's taken inside for the final boil before it's syrup. With the vent hood running like crazy, it gets to the final boiling point and is then filtered through a fabric cone into pint size jars.
My kitchen and my cooktop get a work out, but oh, what a final result!
The first batch was light gold, the second batch almost reddish in tone. Mr. Fix-it sent a bunch of sap home with a co-worker that likes to boil, but doesn't have trees. The bags are still filling, because the weather isn't changing...and the trees have two years worth of sap in them because last year it got nice too fast! Guess this stinkin' weather is good for something!
After a breakfast of pancakes and syrup, we'll be out emptying more bags and boiling down more sap (and hopefully getting some PG projects done while checking the thermometer)! I just love that I'm living a Laura Ingall's Wilder kind of life!
Hang in there Minnesotans...spring has to come...doesn't it?
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Resolutions, or One Word?
It's about that time in January when all the well-made resolutions have fallen by the wayside. Making new habits is really difficult! That's why last year I resonated with the idea of picking out one word to focus on, rather than trying to defeat myself with resolutions.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Twenty Years ago...
Twenty years ago...we were young, fresh, and had a lot of hair! We had both grown up waiting for that special person that God had for us. We both wanted to honor Him and follow Him wherever He led. We made a committment to Him and to each other...forever.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Community Bible Study
Hope you all had a wonderful Easter, celebrating with your family and friends! We had a fun, couple of days at the store, and could tell that many of you brought family members and friends with you to experience the fun and inspiration of a Buffalo, Occasional store shopping day!
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